MH Lighting or no MH

[farlow]

I have ready a lot about concerns about MH bulbs producing more heat then others and other people say they all produce the same amount of heat, the MH's are jsut focues. So I am at a inpass in my search to find the right lighting deisgn for me and my tank.
I have a 6' 120 Gallon tank with canopy (Would liek to keep the canopy so a Retro kit is what I'm looking at, unless someone wants to pipe in why Retro's are worse or biger pains tehn standard hood lightning.)
I currently am looking at two choices :
6' RETROFIT 3MH 6 EURO COMPACT FL 55W - GERMAN KIT
3 - Metal Halide bulb (See Option to Upgrade your Metal Halide and ballast to a higher Kelvin (Whiter & Bluer) and/or higher wattage (Brighter). For tank height 18" to 36" use MH 175W / 24" to 36" use MH 250W / 24" to 60" use MH 400W), 6 - 55W Super Actinic Blue German Compact Fluorescent Bulbs, High quality electro-white reflector, Dimensions: L70"xW9"xH5" ~$950.00
and
6' RETROFIT 660W EURO COMPACT FL 12-55W - GERMAN KIT
Features: 6 - 55 watt German compact fluorescent 6750K white bulbs, 6 - 55 watt German compact fluorescent actinic blue bulbs, High quality polished aluminum reflector, Dimensions: L70"xW12"xH2"
~$850.00
I know little to nothing about MH bulbs how to chose them and what's best for the tank.. This is goign to show you how fish technical I am.. I like the pretty blue colors that remind me of black lights, but I also want what's best for the fish / corals I want to have in the tank.
I have the whole setup, plenum (spelling?) filteration system with the Berlin XL Skimer, a UV light that comes on for 24 hours a mnth now all I need is the lighting to make my tank BOOK I think.
So are Power Compacts the way to go? Are Metal Hylides? or jsut the standard VHO system my best choice. I know that I want about 6watts per gallow so I need something >600watts.
Help Help Help.

 

[jonthefb]

if i were you i would choose the mh/pc combo. i personally have a 135 gallon tank with 3 250 watt mh"s and 2 150 watt VHO's and i love the look of my tank. I love the way mh's look, and they produce a great amount of light intensity needed to keep sps corals and just about anythign else. all bulbs are rated at color temperature in degrees of Kelvin. for example a 6500K bulb will produce more of a yellow light, a 10,000K bulb produces a crisp white color, and a 20,000K bulb produces a very blue color (but remember the 20K bulbs are not the same as actinic!) i am geting ready to replace the bulbs this month and am going with a 20K bulb in the middle socket for a blue appearance, and two 10K bulbs on either side for crisp white color and then 2 5 foot VHO actinics. i think the mh/pc set up you are lookign at is a good one and you will have more than enough light to keep just aobut any type of coral/invert you wnat, as long as you aquascape with caves, etc for the corals who dont like as much light. i would then do all 250 watt bulbs at 10,000K and have all of your pc's then be super actinics, and you should have a great looking tank!
good luck, and welcome to the board!
jon

 

[broomer5]

Farlow
What are the dimensions of your existing canopy ?
Does it have a fan or fans in it now ?
Is it wood ? Could you add fans if required ?
Describe your canopy in detail - please
The height in inches that you could mount the retrokit from the the water surface ? The point the "lamps" will be located in relation to the water.
What corals are you planning to keep ?
How deep is your tank ?
If you really like the "look" of the "pretty blue colors that remind me of black lights" then I would strongly encourage you to consider going with VHO actinics over PC's.
I absolutely love that look myself !
Don't get me wrong - PC actinics are fine - but if you compare them side by side - the VHO blues are out of this world.
It's a personal preference thing for sure though.